Windows 8 Tip: Pin Favorite Apps in Start Search

While the Windows 8 Start Search experience has some pluses and minuses compared to the similar Windows 7 feature, one of the nicer changes is the integration of search into Metro-style apps. And if you have favorite Metro apps, you can pin them to the top of Start Search so that those apps are easier to search.

By default, Start Search will order the apps in the filter pane on the right according to use. That is, the ones you use the most are on the top. (The remaining apps are simply listed alphabetically.)

This ordering may work for many people. But it’s also possible to pin favorite apps so that they’re at the top of the apps list and thus always visible. To do so, right-click (or tap and hold) on a favorite app and choose Pin from the pop-up menu that appears.

Pinned apps appear at the top of the list, as expected, and are noted by a pin icon. You can tap this icon to remove the pin and return the app to the normal sort order.

Note that you can also choose Hide from that pop-up menu. If you do, the app will no longer be shown in the Search screen and thus you will not be able to search the app from that interface. (You can always search from within the app, however.) If you remove an app by mistake, you can restore it to the list by visiting PC Settings, Search.

What I Use

Like many, I was hoping to see a new Lumia flagship before the end of 2014, and while I was pleasantly surprised in some ways by both the Lumia 735 and 830, neither offers the level of performance or best-in-market camera quality I had come to expected from Microsoft/Nokia's high-end devices. So I pulled the trigger on an unlocked Windows Phone flagship that will hopefully take me through at least the first half of this year. Or until Microsoft gets off its low-end fixation and satisfies the needs of its biggest fans....More

It's been a while since the last What I Use, but there haven't been many major changes since late last year: Surface Pro 3 has become my go-to travel companion, I've added a third cellphone line for testing Windows Phone, Android and iPhone side-by-side, and have rotated through some new tablets and other devices. We've also switched from FIOS to Comcast and added to our set-top box collection....More